Dedicating Time to Play

Ray Mannila named GSW’s 2014 Featured Public Servant

Ray Mannila, technical coordinator for the Department of Theater, Communication and Media Arts, is GSW’s 2014 Featured Public Servant.

“Ray Mannila is one of those professionals who does it all,” Kendall Blanchard, Ph.D. said.

Mannila is flattered by the recognition and is quick to thank those that support him in his efforts.

“I am honored to be selected for this award,” said Mannila. “Although I appreciate being selected, I cannot take all the credit. My supervisor, Jeff Green, has been greatly supportive, as have my friends and, of course, none of it would be possible without the love and support from my wife.”

The name “Ray Mannila” is synonymous with theater in Sumter County and southwest Georgia, and particularly at GSW where he has been on the faculty since 2000. On a typical day, if he is not building a set, he is teaching a class on theater or set design, scheduling events for all three performance venues

on campus, or planning a theater conference.

“Volunteering my time allows me to interact with the truly gifted and wonderful people in our area that I normally would not get to meet otherwise,” added Mannila. “Also, being that I love theater so much, volunteering allows me to share my passion with our community.”

Much of Mannila’s activity off campus is spent working with the Sumter Players where he has been a board member since 2001. He currently serves as vice president of production, and he served as president from 2006 to 2010. His volunteer work also extends to local Georgia one-act play competitions as a respondent, assisting in the planning of the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festivals, coordinating events for the Georgia Theater Conference of which he is a member, and providing technical support for the Lake Blackshear Regional Library’s annual dinner theater fund raiser.

Mannila earned a Bachelor of Science in theatre/English from Northern Michigan University and a Master of Arts in dramatic literature from Michigan State University.

Initiated in 2008 by GSW President Kendall A. Blanchard, Ph.D., the Featured Public Servant award is presented to an employee of Georgia Southwestern who makes valuable contributions to the community where he or she lives and works. It is also a way to remind the larger Americus community that Georgia Southwestern faculty and staff play an important role in the social and cultural life of that community.